Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-17
THE FETEs AT FLORENCE.
The sixteen Days Merrymaking and Its
Origin-No. of Rev. T. A. Hopkins's
Ietters,
FLORENCE, ITALY, May 10, 1856

To-day, May 18TH, Florence closes her
long rejoicings over her cathedral, the
west facade of which has just been COM
pleted. 593 years after the building was
begun by Arnolfi A. ID. 1894. This cathe-
dral, Giotto's bell tower, and the baptist
cry, together form the most beautiful
cluster of sacred buildings in Europe.
They are all in the Italian gothic style.
All four sides of each are alike faced with
obong panels of white and red marble,
each panel framed in black, an arrange
ment which affords a contrast of color
truly rich. Excepting the west face of
the cathedral these buildings were com
pleted in $50 years, Tor A. d. 1474) The
cathedral's mighty dome then, at last,
arose 1852 feet in height, to dominate ever
after, not only Florence but all the cathe-
drals of the rest of Italy. beside,-for ST.
Peters at Rome is only an improved
copy. The genius of Brunellesch
triumphed in its erection, and Giotto had
his share in the structure also, so that in
the grandeur of this noble building these
men are great.
Almost as part of the cathedral and
standing in line with the new west front.
is Giotto's campanile Tor 1bell tower,
square upon the ground plan, it reaches
292 feet of elevation, displaying four lofty
stories of highly wrought marble work
surrounding with panels dixie those of
the cathedraD, the windows on windows
which, with pointed arches pierced the
walls, columns and null ons and spiral
pillars. tracery, and medallions overspread
the surface and sculptures and statues
fill appropriate inches, while a freZe of
delicate arches and brackets finishes the
roof above The bapt stery, though one
| of the groups, (and the uldesD, is divided
| h..f bpr nv itt,r,n Mt
But it's effectiveness is not injured by
| that. 1t has eight sides, panelled with
marbles to agree in style with the church
and tower. Arnolf himself lived to or
nament it thus, in 1894 in the same year
in which he founded the cathedral. But
Ghiberti, and one by Andrea Psano) are
the marvels of the world. Ghiberti work
ed 80 years and Pisano % years-to pro
duce these alone, while the tower itself
was built in SO years
Now, strange as it seems, the F'loren-
| tines, amid all this beauty of the rest of
this group, left the west front of the cathe
dral with only its rough stones for 401
years. In 1875 Professor De Fabris
planned and commenced this new facing,
which after IL years of intense labor is
just completed. This facade transcends
in the richness of its finish every church
in tne world. 1t is wholly OF the various
marbles, red, verd antique, yellow, white
and black, -(chef1y white however, in
keeping with Giotto's tower.( But in de-
tail it surpasses that, as much as that sur
passes the tower of ST. Paul's church,
Burlington. The facade is overwhelmed
with the profusion of exquisite white mar
bic sculptures of the virgin and child
prophets, apostles, saints and angels.
But beside that. Florentine patriots and
philanthropists are represented. Best of
all, the Lord Jesus is the most conspicu-
| 1. 81
| place of honor, in blazing and magniti-
cent mosaic of superb color on gold
ground, framed high up on the central
| line, and just over the grand entrance.
With Him stands the virgin mother and
two apostles. The Saviour has a globe in
his hands. All the figures are larger than
life.
In like manner, but in smaller tri-
angle, second superb colored mosaic
over the right door represents seven gen.
erous donors to the charities of the city
and is called "The Triumph of Charity"
while third quite as splendid over the
left door portrays 1.-The Sanctifcation of
Labor" with seven figures prominent in
industry. All these are of a size, larger
than life and equal in execution to any
mosaics in st. Peters at Rome. Every
thing | describe is on the exterior of the
buildings. All the archtraves are cover
ed with bas reliefs and every panel, as
large as square yard, has its high relief.
Between these and the windows and doors,
the same marble panelling covers the sur
face that accords with the rest of the
three great buildings, while the crockett
ted pediment, and pointed windows and
spiral marble pillars and delicate tracer
les give an impression as though drapery
of the richest white lace had been flung
over the whole facade, and impaired its
air of exquisite finish to the structure
which thus invites the admiration of the
world
No wonder, then, that our Florentine
friends desired to have widely known,
this superb heritage that their genius and
generosity have given to the world, 0or
while it is theirs, it is also all mankind's. }
So they organized these IL days grand
fetes, and extended their invitations to
all sorts of distinguished people to come
and meet King Humberto |. and his gra-
cious Queen Margarhita, and under their
patronage to witness the unwilling of this
Nv eft 'front.' (Which is at least six times
the size of the largest front of the cathe-
dral in Burlington Florence numbers
ZOO people itself,-so when $1,000 visit
ors arrived, (amopg them our humble
selves you may imagine the crowd 1.-The
fiesta, The Festa," was in every mouth,
smi es and greetings created the very at
mosphere. No need to speak Italian to
receive their cordia! welcome and to feel
how glad, and patriotic they were. Pub
lie joy is rare and magnificent phe-
nomenon. We never before felt its power
among such masses of men. 1t was truly
grand. Yet hereit was quiet, for Italians
do not shout and hurrah when pleased
even in the street, they only clap their
hands. When we arrived from Rome at
8 p. m of May II, the city was illumina-
ted. The vast dome of the cathedral lift
ed itself,-a pile of light. Streets were
arched with flaming gas High poles
flashed electric lights, and millions OF
candles burned in window panes. Vast
palace fronts blazed away and the ldstre
of the whole so lit up the heavens, that
we saw it coming into the car windows
two and three miles before we reached
the city. When there, we found that the
crowd had absorbed every carriage and
omnibus. Not one was to be had for love OF
money So we walked one and half miles
to our hotel, which took us two hours
SO densely were the streets crowded in the
orderly, yet joyous outburst we thus en-
countered.
But / must finish. Let me here thf nk
many valued Burlington friends who, &c
my agreeable surprise have written to me
| their cordial Qrpatinps for thasa nv let 10 re